1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and, in particular, to composite parts for aircraft. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for placing material onto a mold for an aircraft part.
2. Background
In forming a composite part, layers of fiber materials may be laid down on a mold. These materials may be, for example, without limitation, resin impregnated fibers. These fiber materials may take different forms. For example, fiber materials may take the form of a tow. A tow may be a bundle of individual fibers.
Placing fiber materials onto a mold may be time consuming and tedious for a human operator. Currently, different machines may be used to place fiber materials onto molds.
For example, a machine may have an end effector that may start moving in a direction from a starting location and dispense fiber material onto a surface of the mold. In some cases, a fiber placement head may travel from a starting location to an end location laying down fiber material onto the surface of the mold. When the end location is reached, the fiber material may be cut. The fiber placement head may rotate about 180 degrees and move to an offset position. The fiber placement head may then move in an opposite direction to lay down the fiber material on the mold. This rotation of the head also may take more time than desired in laying down fiber material. Further, this type of rotation also may increase the wear and tear on the fiber placement head.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above as well as possibly other issues.